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cartoon-cass · 29 days

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Comprehensive breakdown of MURDER DRONES - Episode 7: Mass Destruction

I saw a breakdown of this episode on youtube and it was just clearly rushed so I want to do this episode justice so here's my comprehensive breakdown.

New intro, look at them! They look so happy, that is not the case in the episode, to say the least. With how much rubber hosing this animation has I would not be surprised if this was done by Kevin Temmer Tunes with what he learned from amazing digital circus Edit: N was animated by Micah Preciado and Uzi by Zachary Preciado

Bad day to accidentally grab the wrong uniform, I do wonder where the actual Dr.Chambers was in all this. Wonder if it would have made a difference... probably not.

Not actually important but having the shadows of the claws that aren't actually there be the thing to interact with the world is fucking cool as hell. This whole scene is a cool twist on an exorcism with robots and science.

Like look at this, it's a pentagram magnet, a normal pentagram from my basic pop culture understanding it's meant to not only summon a demon but also keep them from leaving the circle. A strong magnet is so smart for this case as it's used to keep Nori in place, I mean it doesn't end up working in the end but it's the thought that counts.

It took my second watch of this episode to realize why the lights got turned on, it revealed the tentacles and claws but it's sun light, the same stuff that burns the Disassembly Drones and Uzi. It even has the same effect as in the end of Episode 4

Can I just say how extra it is making the USB a crucifix, I love it. Also I just notice that on the end of the crucifix the detailing is actually in the shape of a USB symbol, the details in this show is amazing, you can see all the love that went in to it.

This is probably the most terrifying way to hold these robots. I couldn't blame any of the robots for wanting to kill the human good god. Also Yeva playing Tetris, the game has a lot of ties to Russia so wonder if she spoke Russian too, she doesn't speak in this episode and not sure if we'll get more flashback with her so not sure if we will ever find out.

Not sure why Mitchell stop Yeva from entering the church but I like to think he thought Yeva was like a kid, look at him holding her hand in the scene before, and was trying to keep her save and knew something was off. That being said I'd love to hear what you think is his reasoning, sound off in the comments/reblogs.

Pulling back we can see Nori, specifically her core, looking at a crucifix comparing it to the USB crucifix in the video to see if it's the one with the patch, it's not, so she goes out for the hunt to see if she can find it.

Like daughter, like mother, honestly cool little details that lets us know what kind of character Nori is with the very little time we have with her. Drawing made presumably by her of herself as a human cat girl, twice, motor oil cans everywhere, a fricking ninja star, nightcore music, a anime statue that might be a reference to something but I have no clue, also magnets which have been used in the passed like drugs so that's um... something.

was originally just going to point out the funny little animation errors in this scene, as the paper goes through the Ipod and the crinkled paper is mirrored but then I wanted to check what was on the paper and...

It's a missing poster of all things? it uses the exact posters used in episode 3 it's probably just reusing assets but I thought it was a cool thing to point out.

Uzi bleeds blood in these scenes and it's not necessarily mentioned out loud, clearly something AS related, but there might be more to it, or it just looks cool.

This man is in some serious denial, but credit where credit is due, when "Tessa" tells N to stop he turns around, and when Uzi apologized for not being able to help he immediately apologized for Snapping at her. Also look at Tessa's little pointing, thought it was funny.

N: "We're not going to hurt you."

I can't blame Uzi for taking this the wrong way, he's clearly telling Tessa off but all Uzi hears is "hurt you", hence why she only parrots that part.

Thad: "Aaand you won't tell me why we're wandering around 'cause...?" Lizzy: "I'm a good friend, and secrets are blackmail. And it's not about football." Thad: "Okay. Does your secret friend want to know about football, or...?"

Anyone else wondering who Lizzy's good friend is? The only 2 characters we know are good friends with Lizzy are Doll and V. It's possible that through everything Doll sent a text to Lizzy asking her to do something but I feel like V just makes more sense. This does assume V made her way away from the sentinels, if I had to guess she's just a core at the moment which might be why she couldn't do it herself, no wings nor weapons as a core, also makes the blackmail line make more sense.

N: "I deserve this. I deserve this. I deserve this."

Baby girl NO! no you don't, your too hard on your self

That scream. That cut. *chef's kiss* perfect.

This scene just shows us why Uzi went towards the church. Also note when she's the most stressed her eye turns yellow so it does seem stress is the deciding factor whether she can be possessed.

V/AS: You know, you're one of the main reasons... [voice glitching] ...I wanted your team to retain your personalities.

This quote I think has some interesting implications, I mean it obviously confirms that the DD squad was influence by AS but it might also be why it keeps a bit of the personality of which ever host it's using.

This scene holy shit, the music, the lighting, the sound design and animation, that's how you do horror! You don't even need detailed gore, in fact most of it is just off screen. like look at the DD's off in the distance one catches the pilot of the helicopter mid air then they fight over it like hungry animals.

Ok so I hit the image limit and it's almost 1 in the morning so I'm gonna go to bed and continue this tomorrow

~to be continued~

#murder drones #serial designation n #uzi doorman #nori doorman #Yeva #tessa james elliot #I'm just going to tag her to make it easier #Murder drone theory

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merrybandofmurderers · 2 months

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In an era of bloated AAA game projects 5-10 years in development, few have been quite as worrying to fans as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, Bioware’s next game in the fantasy series that has been worked on for quite literally nine years, has undergone loads of reworks, restarts and a few different project leaders.

Now, according to insider Jeff Grubb, after a reveal of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf that BioWare has already announced for this summer, the goal is to get the actual game out in 2024. This would be six years after December 2018 when it was announced at The Game Awards.

Surely after all these years it would be ready to release, right? But the project has been baffling where again, after nine years of development and six years since its announcement it has shown fans nothing but concept art and very short teasers. Yes, this actual reveal is planned for this summer, but even if they’re planning a hyper-short marketing cycle, it still feels unlikely. A general rule is that for AAA games especially, whatever release date is first announced will not stick, and a delay is likely for 3-18 months for “polish,” which is usually the given reason. In short, after Dreadwolf’s incredibly tumultuous development, its just a little hard to believe they’d pull off a reveal spun almost immediately into a proper release.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will also face serious headwinds from the comparisons it will no doubt evoke. If it comes out in 2024, that would be a year after Baldur’s Gate 3, one of the most acclaimed video games…ever, and an easy GOTY winner last year. Dreadwolf will no doubt have its storyline twists and turns and decisions to be made and party members to romance, but it will be endlessly stacked up against Baldur’s where there’s simply no way it can match it. And I doubt anyone is expecting it to even measure up to The Witcher 3, the must-play fantasy game released in 2015 when development for Dreadwolf began.

It's also unclear how EA’s second major round of layoffs last week may have impacted things. 50 BioWare employees were laid off last year, including a number working on Dreadwolf. BioWare has been in a major slump since the release and high profile failure of Anthem. A new Dragon Age and an upcoming Mass Effect game (again, only seen in nebulous teasers) feel like the studio is trying to return to its glory days but with few of the people who were present during those glory days, as the studio has been wholly transformed. And many would say not for the better.

#dragon age #dragon age dreadwolf #da:d #article #criticism #da blogging

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pedroschka · 1 year

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not my type

Joseph Quinn x reader

words: 1.9k fluff

Summary: one sided feelings can destroy friendships, so you and Joe make it very clear that you both are not each other's type, pinky promise clear

A/n: @ghostinthebackofyourhead grab your favorite bread and (hopefully) enjoy because I'm your secret Santa!! thanks to @quinnyfairy for organising this <3

Mid laugh, brown eyes crinkling and his head thrown back, that's the blurry image of your best friend in front of you for the last two minutes.

"Joe as much I love to see your little potato head but your screen is frozen."

" ugh, shit! The bloody wifi connection at my parents' is the worst. Wait a second!" his voice on the other end is a bit muffled as he seems to be moving around, trying to fix it.

It was one day after Christmas and you and Joe are trying to have your own little celebration via video call while you both are at your family's and didn't want to wait till you eventually see each other in person again, unpredictable with Joe's busy schedule nowadays anyway. So you both had sent each other's presents via post and now wanted to unpack them together.

So now you sit on your bed in your old bedroom, presents scattered around you and your tablet in front of you with the frozen image of your laughing friend.

" OK, what about now?" Joe's face finally in time again and him waving at the camera

" yes, now get started I already tried peaking but you really are serious about your sticky tape"

" and see how it came in handy" his cocky little smile makes you roll your eyes while grabbing the first present on your left which already has a bit of wrapping paper ripped out, but sticky tape all around it preventing you from making out what it could be.

At the end, you both sit in a colorful mass out of wrapping paper, presents sorted in a little pile beside you, and now updating each other on the newest family tea.

" no! I swear my aunt was full-on gushing about how Eddie looked like her ex-boyfriend's when she was a teen and started showing pictures of you as Eddie all around the dining table, it was soo uncomfortable!" you comically shuddered and Joe's snickering like a little kid at your theatrics.

As comfortable and at ease you were now around him was the complete opposite when you first met each other a year ago.

You sat on your friend's couch, phone in hand, and playing some stupid game, that only seems to come to use in social situations out of ultimate boredom, but trying to look very busy for the people around you. Questioning why your friend even thought it was a good idea to invite you to one of her parties, celebrating whatever with a bunch of her actor friends, when you were the epitome of socially awkward and just overall really bad at meeting new people.

You tried, you really tried to be a part of some conversations, standing in a group full of, on first sight, cliché book extroverts, all of them with interesting lives and using big words talking about different plays, with you just standing there and fake laughing at their jokes you didn't understand and attempting to stop comparing yourself with them. Which didn't work so after a few exhausting hours in which you've been ignored or got an awkward "was nice meeting you" after you ranted too much about a topic you finally could understand you gave up. Your social battery drained and you loathing in self-pity.

Loud cheers and greetings make you look up from your phone, great even more people. The new guest is a very ordinary-looking guy, plain light washed baggy jeans hanging low on his hips, a plain white shirt, sneakers. Not bad on the eye with tousled brown curls as well as brown eyes but not really your type.

Still he held an aura around him that forced you to keep your attention on him, apparently the people around him felt the same effect as they were hanging on every word that was coming out of his mouth. Or is he... Famous around here?! And you are just the only one who has absolutely no idea who he is?

But you're already admiring him for a different reason, Looking so awkward but at the same time so charmingly charismatic and being able to find the right words and topic for each person. You couldn't help to be slightly jealous.

Forced to look down again as he looked across the room and dangerously close in your direction you continued your game, only looking up again as you felt the couch dip as someone sat themselves beside you, and you hastily tried to turn your phone away to not get caught.

"well, that looks fun" shit.

Unknown ordinary looking /maybe famous guy is smiling at you and nodding at your phone

"uggh, kinda" and your brain is letting you down again.

But he doesn't seem bothered by your brain-dead state and tried again to engage you in a conversation, ending up with him having your phone and you, hanging half over his shoulder, explaining to him how to play the game.

"oh, I'm Joe by the way!"

You met Joe a few times after that again and eventually exchanged numbers which resulted in a weird and chaotic friendship. With his ability to make you feel so comfortable around him and just being yourself, he has to endure your ranting over the most ridiculous topics or oversharing the most private things, but it doesn't seem to bother him, on the contrary, he seems to even encourage your weirdness and just adapt to it.

Because of this connection between you both, you lost count of how many times people thought you both were dating or how many times your friends and family tried to play matchmaker, so a pinky promise between you and joe was made that you both are on the same page, that you are not each other's type, both of you already familiar with how one-sided feelings can destroy a friendship, so better making sure at the beginning right?

It was now new years eve and like you planned with Joe in your last call you both were gonna drive over to a friend's house who's throwing a party to celebrate it together, in person this time.

Joe's gonna be at your place to pick you up in nearly 20 minutes and you're still sitting in front of your wardrobe in only your bathrobe and still wet hair, nibbling nervously on your fingernails and looking over all your clothes, eyes wide with panic debating what you should wear to look presentable for him.

Which is absolutely ridiculous because Joe has already seen you in your absolute worst states, coming over to you with pimple cream all over your face, greasy hair, and sloppy oversized shirts with holes and stains you couldn't even explain.

But you haven't seen each other for nearly a month now, well except for the few video calls but that's just different, and now you are a nervous mess, suddenly worried about your appearance and you hate it.

The buzzing of your doorbell makes you jump slightly, spraying the last bit of hairspray on your head and turning the music off, which you needed to hype yourself up, and speedwalking to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

Joe's standing in front of you in black slacks and a slightly striped white shirt, the last button undone and a necklace peeking out of it, and you feel your heartbeat throbbing in your ears.

With a happy call of your name, he went straight into a hug and you suddenly felt distracted by the smell of his perfume, still the same one you smelt a thousand times but different regardless, Like his arms around you, squeezing you firmly into him, it's like your sensory perception is on high alert and suddenly everything feels more intense.

The car ride to the party is awkward to say at least, your nerves preventing you from coming up with anything other than occasionally humming or nodding as an answer, and after a few more tries from Joe he gave up, thinking maybe you're just nervous again because of all the people that are gonna be there and needed a few more minutes for yourself, so the car becomes silent and you hate it because that was your least concern right now, you felt like a bad friend, not seeing each other for a month and you can't even talk to him because this bloody nervous feeling just won't go away. So you both just stare at the road in front of you.

It's loud and full and lights flickering everywhere and you're so overwhelmed and tense that the weird feeling is forgotten for a moment and you're clinging to Joe, following him around like a lost puppy. Him ordering drinks for you both and chatting with people, trying to include you, taking you with him for smoke breaks, the only time when you both are separated is when one of you has to go to the toilet.

A few minutes before midnight a group of people had gathered on the balcony, with them you and Joe, shouting the countdown to the new year and watching fireworks exploding and illuminating the night sky.

" happy new year!" you screamed in each other's faces and laughed as you tackle each other in a big hug. People around you doing the same or walking around and giving the traditional New Year kiss.

Observing this you both looked at each other and shrugged while giggling, both slightly tipsy, and pecked each other on the lips. Physical contact wasn't unfamiliar to you, both being touchy when around people you feel comfortable enough, small kisses when saying goodbye, or cuddling together on your small sofa when watching some movies weren't new either. What was new was the feeling you felt as your lips met his.

As you separated you looked into each other's eyes, you always thought that his eyes were beautiful, even told him so, but you never felt such strong emotions when looking into them, unable to hold eye contact your gaze trailed to his lips, so full and soft looking and you never felt such a strong urge either to be near them. Subconscious you both lean in again and your lips met again but this time for a real kiss.

Warm flooded your body and you can't think of anything else other than the feeling of his lips against yours. His hands found the back of your neck to bring you even closer and you copied him, trailing your fingers through his curls, both of you starving for each other's presence and hungry for more, captivated and lost in your own little world.

Until a person stumbles into you and you remember again where you are.

Both of you catching your breath as you separated again, waking up from the trance-like state, emotional chaos whirling up in you again because you just made out with your best friend, with which you made a silly pinky promise and made very clear to not be each other's type to save this friendship but now you experienced the best kiss you ever had and when you look at his face now he is so beautiful and you can't help to want to kiss those lips again but you were also so overwhelmed because what the fuck does this all mean now.

Luckily Joe answers your questions as he leans in again for a third kiss, shorter but still as breathtaking.

" I know we promised to be not each other's type but do you wanna go on a date with me?" he asked against your lips and you both giggled as you nodded 'yes' before going into another kiss.

(reblogs and comments are very appreciated additional to your likes)

#secret santa project #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #joe quinn #joe quinn fanfic #fanfiction #joseph quinn fluff

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submissiveking99 · 2 months

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RPG GAMES

MASS EFFECT

Commander Jane 'FemShep' Sheppard

Jane Shepard is a no-nonsense military woman. Captain of the Normandy, she is a Spectre. Above the law, dealing with the galaxy's deadliest threats. A mix of paragon and renegade, she will kick your ass if you are racist to one of her crew but also be more than happy to joke over some drinks at an Asari strip club

Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy

Tali is a Quarian. A race of Space nomads forced from their home from the AI known as the Geth, and intergalactic law screwing them over. She is so sweet and kind, a brilliant engineer and more than deadly with a shotgun

Miranda Laweson

Miranda Lawson, made/cloned to be genetically perfect by her father. She escaped his clutches to try and live her own life. Confident in her sex appeal, she is a powerful biotic (basically space wizard/psychic) and takes no one's shit

Kasumi Goto

Kasumi is the galaxy's greatest thief. With tech to make her almost completely invisible to sight, sound and any type of vision imaginable. She is basically a space ninja. She is a fun playful tease who does what she wants as she pleases, because why not?

EDI

Samara

Aria T'Loak

KINGDOM HEARTS

Kairi

Aqua/ Anti-Aqua (or Aquanort)

Namine

Xion

Larxene

FINAL FANTASY

Tifa Lockheart

Cloud Strife

Aerith Gainsborough

Yuffie

NiER

NiER REPLICANT

Kaine

Kaine is the deuteragonist of NiER Replicant. To put it simply, she is a brash and agressive woman with no filter and is more than happy to swear up a storm.

She dresses provocitavly for a reason, to emphasise her feminine attributes as she is intersex canonically. Most people seeing her as a freak or a monster for the (again, canonically, very large) member she has.

NiER AUTOMATA

YoRHa Unit 2B

The Battler style unit with the Type 2 personality. Battler's are masters of close and long range weapons, swords and guns. (2B is extra good at this as her designation is not actually 2B, but 2E. An executioner model. E types being the most advanced and combat focused of all YoRHa units)

She is very cold and serious, but by choice. Trying to force down her emotions as to not feel the hurt with the dealth of her allies. As when an Android dies, if their memory is not backed up, who they 'were' dies.

A loyal member of the YoRHa but she deeply wishes to experiance happyness and humanity.

YoRHa Unit 9S

A scanner type Yorha unit with the type 9 personality. Very curious and eager to learn, facinated by humans and their... everything.

9S is a very submissive femboy character in my writing.

Commander White

Commander White is the... well... the Commander of the YoRHa organisation. 2B, 9S and so many others superior.

A very strict and serious woman who hides her inner caring and guilt as she is unable to give her soldiers the support they need

YoRHa Unit A2

An older Attacker unit with the type 2 personality. (attackers are ebst at close range combat, usually with swords)

Originally shy and timid, average was the best word to describe her, A2 did not die when she was expected to. Being declaired a trator at that. And so A2 did battle, survived, killing machine and android alike to survive.

YoRHa Unit 2P

A clone of 2B made by the machines. A very dominant, confident and powerful being. She is confidence on legs, not scared to cut down or humilate any who talk to her with a dismissive glance at best.

Her name, 2P, is based off a '2nd Player' for video games, the type P apparently exists in canon. As such I belive P stands for Paladin, all of the skills of the type A (attacker) units as well as the type D (defender) units.

YoRHa Unit Operator 6O

Operator 6O is a very sweet and cheerful girl. An Operator Unit asigned to 2B, she is 2B's mission control... and arguably only/best friend. Curious and happy about humanity and the world long lost, she is a cheerful ball of sunshine

YoRHa Unit Operator 21O

21O is the opperator Unit assigned to 9S and acts as his big sister/mother figure, stopping him from getting too absorbed in hus curiosity and making sure he follows the rules. Stern and serious, she makes sure the job is done as she works as 9S' mission control

.HACK//GU

Atoli/ Chigusa Kusaka

Alkaid/ Chika Kuramoto

UNDERTALE

Toriel

Total muses: 27

#open rp #open to all #smut rp #open smut rp #read rules before interacting #video game rp #mass effect rp #kingdom hearts rp #final fantasy rp #final fantasy 7 rp #ff7 rp #nier rp #dot hack rp #.hack rp #GU rp #dothackrp #.hack//gu rp

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floatingcatacombs · 5 months

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It’s the Tar Taking Over That Came Unexpected

12 Days of Aniblogging 2023, Day 2

Back when it was a frustratingly rare Wii exclusive, I braved a storm to hunt down a used copy of Xenoblade Chronicles, and it still surpassed my every expectation. So finally sinking my teeth into Xenoblade Chronicles X earlier this year felt right.

This was a Wii U game and it’s still nuts that this was a Wii U game. The only change I made when emulating it was bumping up the internal rendering resolution, and it’s crazy how good it still looks. The highest-fidelity games I play are FromSoft so my frame of reference is busted, but even still, it’s frequently breathtaking. Monolith Soft has always had a reputation for building impressive open worlds on underpowered hardware, and their first foray into HD might be their greatest feat. Or maybe I’m just easily impressed by pretty skies. Emulated at 1080p 60FPS, the experience really clicks, with snappy menus, fast loading times, and the ability to alt-tab to the map on the gamepad. For once I didn't feel like I was missing out at all by not playing on original hardware.

After starting a new game you're immediately dumped into a character creation screen, which means I already have to navigate an old stupid censorship debate. See, there was a whole internet shitstorm back in 2015 when this game released stateside because the English version removed the bust slider from the character creator. This was the era of GamerGate and “localization versus translation” and Fire Emblem Fates taking out a waifu-touching minigame and everything surrounding Tokyo Mirage Sessions – things got really heated for a second! In hindsight, it was weird mixture of niche game publishers misreading their target audiences and hypervigilant right-wing provocateurs gearing up for larger culture wars, using titty games as a nexus for radicalizing nerds.

Things have cooled down a lot since then, as Japanese games generally release unaltered these days, rendering it a non-issue. When controversies do happen, it’s not in Nintendo's court anymore, it’s usually Valve removing Japanese visual novels from their store page in an act of laughable double standards. Anyways, thanks to the wonders of PC emulation and memory editors, I was able to restore the boob slider to Xenoblade Chronicles X, and valiantly used it to make my character flat.

XCX’s design sensibilities are a pretty sharp contrast from the direction the series went afterwards, instead dealing in guns, gritty sci-fi, and a more realistic color palette. The storms and forlorn mecha on the box art tell you all you need to know. It’s all very western, with the designers definitely taking cues from Halo and Mass Effect in a lot of places. The hub city is also based on Los Angeles, further cementing the American influence in everything but the mechas.

Ultimately, I think this all worked out well. The original Wii release of Xenoblade Chronicles isn’t particularly “anime”, after all. Its aesthetic sensibilities are closer to Final Fantasy X than, say, any given Tales. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3, as well as the Switch remake of the first game, hew much closer to games like Genshin in terms of colors and character proportions, but Xenoblade X takes the original’s artstyle and places it in a more serious context. I’m glad the series didn’t commit to this direction (it would have gotten bland fast), but it’s cool that we got it exactly once. Despite the more western stylings though, this is still fundamentally a niche anime game, much more so than the first Xenoblade. There’s titty armor and fanservice outfits as quest rewards, a young moe girl in the main cast, and the occasional pervy sidequest. A lot of the localization conflict may have been Nintendo attempting to clean up Xenoblade X in order to pitch it as a mainstream release at a time when the Wii U really needed a hit. While it’s a solid game, it was never going to be able to appeal to a very large audience.

Also, the story’s a bit of a mess. The tone is all over the place, with both comic relief and serious moments frequently failing to land. What starts off as a surprisingly grimdark sci-fi about the last remaining humans trying to survive on an alien planet as their crashed generation ship-city runs out of power quickly morphs into Star Wars levels of goofy aliens. Plot twist after plot twist ensues, defusing a lot of the tension because you know that they’re just going to pull something even crazier out next. Though the main story struggles, the emergent narrative of New Los Angeles is actually pretty good. A lot of the player’s side questing is dedicated to resolving interpersonal conflicts and helping make the city feel like a real home for everyone. Gradually, NLA begins taking on alien immigrants and the mutual fish-out-of-water situation between human and alien refugees leads to some funny moments and the occasional surprisingly thoughtful quest about cultural tolerance.

But for the most part, the story takes a backseat to exploring planet Mira. Through the gameplay loop I’ve come to understand Xenoblade X as something of a single-player MMO. The combat system is based around positioning, auto-attacks, skills that go on cooldown, and extremely customizable character classes. There’s a nightmarish amount of skill trees to keep track off, to the point where I’d forget about them alone until I was having trouble with a fight, and then remember an entire system I’d forgotten to take advantage of. There are item collections to fill out and side quests of all flavors and secret areas and difficult raid bosses yada yada yada…

Okay I can’t hold off from discussing the music any longer. The combat theme for Xenoblade X is the stuff of legends. Terrible, terrible legends.

Putting vocals in your RPG’s regular battle music is a bold move. You really have to make sure you knocked it out of the park, because singing is going to grate on the player far more quickly than any instrumental. Because of this, the battle themes of Persona 5, The World Ends With You, and Get In The Car, Loser! are all something of a flex. Black Tar is not that. I’m just going to link the song, because it really has to heard to be understood.

youtube

Xenoblade X’s battle theme starts off strong, the grim sci-fi tone clearly communicated through the moody synths. Soon enough the guitars come crashing in, giving way to a distinctly nu metal sound. That stylistic choice alone pissed people off in 2015, to which I say grow up, it’s great. But if you let the battle run on for 50 seconds, someone starts rapping.

Black Tar has some of the most nonsensical lyrics ever put to pen, delivered in the jankiest way possible, with words just kind of crammed in without any regard to flow. It’s not even a case of “non-proficient English speaker comes up with shoddy lyrics” as occasionally happens with Japanese songs. Every single word of this is an act of malicious fluency, and if I singled out all the lines I had questions about, I’d be here all day. Opening the first verse with “We’re stuck on a whole different planet” tricks the listener into thinking that the lyrics will to tie into the game’s events and setting, but this is a fool’s errand. The titular tar has no in-game corollary, so to make any sense of it you have to go metaphorical and claim that maybe it stands for losing your squadmates and giving up hope. That's still pretty flimsy! Maybe it really is just be about heroin.

Eventually though, we reach the chorus, and it’s actually a great hook! Except for the fact that it’s sung by a Japanese singer in English. The lyrics were clearly written with no regard for which syllables he’d have difficulty with, and making this guy utter the phrase “Black tar’lll” was an open act of cruelty.

In a 2015 interview, Black Tar rapper and lyricist David Whittaker brings up that the he wrote the words for his first video game song in about two hours, going for “just foolishness”. I imagine his work here was a similar situation.

It’s so, so easy to harp on Black Tar. Everyone did at release, and everyone who hasn’t played the game still does. The thing is, it’s impossible to keep that antagonism up when you’ve got an 80-hour game ahead of you where this is the standard battle theme the whole way through. For the sake of your own sanity, you have to learn to love Black Tar, and pretty much everyone who finishes the game comes around to it. Much to the chagrin of my girlfriend, I quote Black Tar constantly, with less of a sense of irony each time. Eventually, you too will find yourself shouting along with David Whittaker as he raps about being on a sea of dark matter. And of course, the instrumental was always a banger if you weren’t a coward. The theme for New LA also gets a lot of flak for its gibberish vocal samples and St. Anger snares, but I’ve always been a fan and think it holds up great as an endless-looping hub area theme. It’s so…. Sawano zeitgeisty.

The entire soundtrack is actually a Hiroyuki Sawano joint, and he does a pretty good job. It very much all sounds like the kind of music he’s known for, with the exception of the overworld themes, which instead try to mimic the compositions of the first Xenoblade Chronicles. Primordia’s theme is an excellent response to the first game’s Gaur Plain, with a more techy and ominous tone that nevertheless still evokes the sense of grand exploration ahead.

The edgy atmosphere, the washed out palette, the Sawano tunes….Xenoblade Chronicles X is extremely of its time, in a way that comes across as deeply charming 8 years later. It’s kind of terrifying that something can already be an early 2010s period piece! The Sawano music alone will shoot you back to the days of Kill La Kill and Aldnoah Zero, when Gen Urobuchi was absolutely everywhere and the default crap anime genre was magic school instead of isekai. The mere idea of early 2010s nostalgia sets off alarms in my head, but it’s definitely real, and will only become more of a thing in the next few years. Brace yourselves for the flow of time.

Last, but certainly not least, the mechas! They’re one of the main reasons I tried the game out in the first place. Giant robots are often part of Xenoblade worldbuilding, but they don’t really factor into the gameplay. X is the exception. From the first preview trailers to the title screen to their first step into New LA, the player is made to want a Skell. They’re so cute! The Skells were designed by Takayuki Yanase, one of the people who worked on Gundam 00, and I can see the similarities in the combination of curves and blocky elements. There’s quite a few mecha otaku who work at the NLA hangar out of love for the Skells. Most of them are women, a detail that made me really happy!

Adding even more to the player’s desire is the fact that Xenoblade X withholds Skells for a very long time. You have to make it more than halfway through the story and substantially explore the first three continents on foot before receiving your piloting license. And it’s Xenoblade, so these places are massive. Even with an extremely generous jump, you’ll run into countless clifftops out of reach. They really make you work for it, but at least the core gameplay loop of exploring to setting up waypoints and mining devices is a lot of fun on its own (I was curious if the plot would ever get around to problematizing the resource-extraction gameplay loop, but no dice).

party members next to the Skell for scale purposes

When you finally get a Skell about forty hours into the game, everything changes. One of the major challenges facing mecha games is getting the scale right –it’s pretty easy for the giant robot to feel human-sized if all the player is ever doing is piloting. Xenoblade X avoids this by making your human pace painfully clear before giving you a ten-meter robot to traverse those same landscapes. It’s night and day how much more quickly you can navigate. Skells are also wildly stronger than characters on the ground, and being able to take on behemoth creatures as well as pulverize the human-scale enemies you’ve been fighting all this time keeps the scale relevant. It provides a real power fantasy and makes them feel believable in-setting. Being able to get in and out of your Skell at will goes a long way towards making it truly feel like yours, and this mechanic also acts as something of an on-the-fly difficulty modifier for the remainder of the game. A few chapters later you get a flight pack for your Skell, and the world opens up all over again.

not pictured: the j-pop earworm that plays every time you start flying

After spending so much time hanging out with the mecha pervert mechanic girlies in the NLA hangar, the back half of Xenoblade Chronicles X finally lets you be one of the mecha pervert girlies. Customization is on the lighter side, as you can’t mix and match body parts like in Armored Core, but there’s still plenty of color customization and weapons fine-tuning to do. I totally fell in love with my robots, and that alone makes it a victory of a mecha game.

A new song plays during Skell combat, and it’s…. more verses of Black Tar!! There truly is no escape. The backing has more of an EDM sound to it, and the lyrics are even more laughable than before. “Shoot them with your guns” still gets me every time. And yet, I would be lying if I said I’ve never headbanged to the part about being stuck on a different planet. You learn to love these things.

So that’s Xenoblade X. It’s a weird-ass game, a real triumph but also absolutely the wrong thing for Nintendo to have to put out in 2015. It’s easily the most impressive Wii U exclusive and I’m glad Monolith Soft took this detour. You’d be disappointed in it if you went in with purely the expectation of a mecha game, but as a Xenoblade fan who’s been gradually falling deeper into mecha, it was a great genre blend. Xenoblade X’s servers will shut down next year, and while I didn’t partake in any of that (the multiplayer elements seem fairly minor anyways), it will be the end of an era for sure. Just in time to start fondly reminiscing.

#12 days of anime #xenoblade x #xenoblade chronicles x

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rustingcat · 5 months

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My mass effect 3 thoughts!

Mass effect 3 is the perfect example of consequences and continuation of a series. While mass effect 2 somewhat diverted in stracture and story from the first one (mainly because they needed to reinvent a lot of mechanics as the old ones were really out dated), but its story felt disconnected from the first one in many ways. I can't blame it really, it wanted to give bigger depth to characters and to explore more in regard to the lore of the world, but it still felt a bit too high of a jump.

Mass effect 3, on the ither hand, was build on top of everything that was established and used that as its base, using every setup the previous entery left it, and executed it beautifully. You have many unique interactions and story beats with characters you saved and connected with 2 games ago that enriched the world so much and made each one feel special. I can't think of many games that ever managed anything like that.

The mechanics are, of course, greatly improved. I can run! Like properly run! It's amazing! There's also fewer meaningless planet scannings, and overall, it feels more fun to play.

I think this game has the best cohisivness when it comes to side mission plots. They feel much more interesting and connected to the main plot as a whole than previous games. Also, as a bonus, this game has some amazing DLC content, with the citadel DLC being probably the best mission to play in the entire trilogy! It was a love letter for the franchise in every possible way. Just dont make my mistake and accidentally start it as soon as you get it, this is the kind of missions that want to play right before the end (I would highly recommend checking the names of those mission just to make sure).

The relationship with your crewmates is also far more dynamic. They can be found in different places on the ship or on the citadel, often with unique dialogues and interaction either with you or with another character.

I felt like the main story woreked better overall than the second one, continuing and interwining the choices and reletionship carried over from the previous games. It was the perfect conclusions to this serious all the way. Well, up until the very very end. I knew the ending was mixed, but I didn't expect it to come so late.

I have so much to say about it, but I also don't want to spoil anything! So if you're interest to hear my thoughts, feel free to dm me.

I felt like the combat was utilised way more in this game than the others. I could be wrong, but that's just what I felt. I definitely reached the point when it got repetative and boring. There was a larger selection of weapons and mods to pick from, but if it wasn't a sniper, I didn't care.

In conclusion, I'd say that it was an epic conclusion to this trilogy and more than worth your time. (Especially the citadel DLC.) The series as a whole is amazing, and if you hadn't played it, I recommend giving it a try.

Out of the three games I think I still like the main story of the first one the best, it felt the most cohesive and natural with enough mystery to keep you intrigued (despite the very dated game mechanics). The second game really raised the bar when it came to consequences, and dove much deeper into the characters' lore, and I also feel like had the best atmosphere and variaty of mission typs. But the third one had the best interactivity when it came to the relationship with your crew mates, best consistency of combining main story and side mission and of course the value of your choises from all the previous games.

I'm very glad I played this trilogy. Thank you to everyone who pushed me to continue after the first game! Is Andromeda worth playing? Had anyone actually played it?

#cat talks

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the-world-annealing · 10 months

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Hard-Headedness

The background Bicycle Helmet discourse that seems to have become a thing over the last week would be a lot less annoying if anyone would, at any point, involve a number in their argument.

Is riding bicycles dangerous? Sure, for a definition of 'dangerous'. The Netherlands, promised land of bicyclists, has a cyclist fatality rate of about 12 per billion miles traveled, and a serious injury rate of 450 per billion miles (link).

Helmets seem to knock down the risk of death or serious injury by about a third, which is a significant result! Like, obviously they work, I don't think anyone is disputing this, but it's still good to note.

And maybe that's enough. Wearing a helmet will reduce your expected fatality rate from 12 per billion miles to 8 per billion miles, and the expected rate of serious injury from 450 to 300 per billion miles. Not the biggest impact on net, but a very solid reason if you're making decisions based on pure safety.

But I think this is the point where we admit that pure safety isn't a part of those discussions normally, and for some reason this time it is. Nobody is saying pedestrians ought to be wearing helmets, even though pedestrians have about the same rate of traffic fatalities and could probably reduce that rate by a double-digit percentage if they habitually deck themselves out in protective gear. Motorcyclists are in even more danger, and their safety would skyrocket if they switched en masse to cars; few seem to think they should.

(and before you say the counterargument in the second case is that motorcycles pollute less than one-occupant cars: they expel less CO2 but much more of other pollutants, owing to the inability to fit bulky catalytic convertors or other filter equipment)

Look, if someone says "I ride a motorcycle or a moped instead of driving, because I think it is easier to park" that seems to get accepted without question. If someone says "I ride a bike but do not wear a helmet, because I cannot easily store it at the places I cycle to" or "Wearing a helmet makes me overheat", why is that, suddenly, fair game for criticism, when its impact on expected death/injury risk is far smaller than the other two examples?

(uncharitably: because now we are talking about the sort of tradeoff that americans specifically tend not to make, with the actual cost/benefit of those tradeoffs not factoring anywhere)

There is obviously some kind of boundary where your Personal Safety Decisions have such a blatantly skewed cost/benefit that enforcing them via basic social pressure becomes justified (seatbelts fall in this category imo, but even incredibly effective medications don't always seem to, suggesting the bar is quite high!).

But bicycle helmets are a less impactful choice than a ton of stuff that people on here don't seem to care about at all, which leaves the whole discourse little but an extended exercise in americans dunking on dutch people for differences in social norms (even when one of those norms is, objectively, safer!). Like, are we really going to pretend the initiating thread is motivated by love for truth and a genuine concern for the cranial health of the dutch?

For what it's worth, I myself was very firmly convinced helmets weren't really worth it when I started writing this post, and after running the numbers I do think I should wear one if storage facilities at my destination permit so. No thanks to the people supposedly arguing for that outcome, of course.

#metadiscourse #cycling #bike helmet discourse

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sgiandubh · 7 months

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Would you know anything about the bedbugs infestation in Paris ? Is it as bad as the media says it is ?

Thank you 😊

Dear (returning?) Paris Anon,

At least I suppose it's you. 'Bedbug Anon' was a bit cheeky, to be honest.

Well, yes. I do know a thing or two about it. I even just re-watched a very popular and well-informed French talk show (C dans l'air) which spoke at length about it on October 2 (suit yourself, if you understand French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKUizY5ek5A) - this explains my belated answer. It was, as usually, a most entertaining and insightful inquiry on what is now not only the latest wave of collective hysteria, but also a very serious political French affair (everything is political, in France).

For a more entertaining, yet alarming Anglo-Saxon POV, check The Cut's cheeky correspondence from Paris Fashion Week (https://www.thecut.com/2023/10/snug-as-a-bedbug-in-a-high-fashion-rug.html). I couldn't help but wonder if C dutifully left her suitcase outside or put her white Panda shirt in the freezer, just to be on the safe side, like all the American fashionistas recommended (see article above).

With French topics, I have a infallible rule of thumb: if it made it to the media, then it's bad enough and you should multiply the effect at least by 2, just to have an idea. It is a dire straits moment for France, when they are expecting to be submerged by hundreds of thousands of tourists, lured in by the Olympics: national pride is at stake. So this is why they invited an entomologist and two medical school professors at that talk-show: to explain the traumatized masses even Cleopatra had bed bugs (I kid you not and only in France) and that it has nothing to do with the lack of hygiene. Mysteriously, no other rationale was brought forth, but I would guess it has to do with the inflation of wallpaper that plagues all the bourgeois French apartments (those spaces perfectly fit to entertain people, but inept for comfortable living). Bed bugs just love wallpaper and upholstery, for some mystifying reason.

Since you asked at your own risk, I am afraid you have to put up with my logorrhea and allow me to shortly explain you something about French attitude to hygiene. Some people (Americans, especially) are horrified by what sometimes is a nonchalant approach to it, but I don't really mind and I don't find French people repugnant at all (God forbid!). But it is true that instead of 'cleanliness is next to godliness', French kids heard for centuries things like ' l'eau pique' (water stings). Jamie and Claire's Paris was not its lionized book and series avatar: it was a pigsty, where people routinely threw their chamber pots either in the Seine river or just haphazardly in the open street sewage running under their windows. So much so, that this is why the Sun King chose to flee from (bed bug) infested Louvre Palace and chose to repair and expand his father's old hunting lodge at Versailles, with the result we all know.

Not that Versailles was any better, hygiene-wise: Gabaldon's descriptions are correct, but they do not measure up with the brutal and hilarious honesty of the Princess Palatine. A rotund, plain but witty woman, Liselotte von der Pfalz (the sister-in law of the Sun King, no less) wrote (in French) absolutely wonderful letters to her German relatives. And I do remember howling when I happened to stumble upon things like : 'oh, in Versailles, just about everyone shits just about everywhere, without a single care in the world' (I am quoting from memory, but the idea is very accurate).

Along came two (contemporary) men. Louis Pasteur whose germ (Jamie's wee beasties) theory of diseases radically changed the public health game in France, aside from discovering the cure for rage. And the Baron Haussmann, who razed all the (bed bug) infested Medieval Paris neighborhoods, plus re-introduced underground sewage (tout à l'égoût) to France. And built many of the supremely elegant avenues and boulevards that are the real pride, joy and soul of that strange, annoying and beautiful city I deeply love and know like the back of my hand.

So you see, Anon, the pain, the shame and the struggle are real.

I hope I didn't make you dizzy. Don't forget to tell us if you liked Paris and don't be a stranger.

#Anon

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mastcrmarksman · 1 month

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a very brief verse bio for all the verses.

01 // 616, main verse, canon divergent

this one has a post go find it. main verse/blog canon and how i write clint.

02 // Square Enix's Avengers Game

Pretty goes exactly as the game; and game verse Clint will also probably work for the Spidey Games, Guardians game, and Midnight Suns.

03 // Star Trek

this is set mainly in the AOS timeline, but i do know voyager and prodigy-ish. Throughout the timeline of the 3 movies; Clint is a pilot of the Enterprise on the beta or gamma shift. After Beyond, he is a security officer and eventually chief of security. ( this has a post)

04 // Wastelands

Old Man Hawkeye, Old Man Logan, Wastelanders. Verse setting that revolves around the various aus of Marvel's Waatelands.

05 // Old Man

Basically, older Clint maybe minus the wastelands or Old Man Clint from Wastelands yeetede into 616 like Old Man Logan does.

06 // Mass Effect

Clint is a human Spectre for the Citadel/Council. His ship is small crewed ship, intended for stealth, which he has named The Broken Arrow (he very much needs a new ship, hence the broken)

07 // Last of Us (or zombine in general)

Clint's a runner for the Fireflies, and then eventually he's a hunter/patrol man for a settlement. Strictly uses a bow.

08 // Dragon Age

He's an ex-templar; he got out of a criminal sentence by signing up to be a templar. He hated being a templar. Sucks how the Chantry makes all their templars lyrium addicted, isn't it. ha. ha.

09 // Pirate

Pretty straight forward. He's a pirate. My context for pirates is Black Sails, so this was a lot more serious toned.

10 // Cowboy

He's a cowboy. Duh. I'll figure this out later.

11 // Medical Drama (influenced by so many medical dramas i watch)

Clint is an ER Doctor. Yup. This man went to medical school. He likes the varied pace of ER. He's just trying to live his life man. Works way too much. Lives on coffee.

12 // Spy or Assassin

Figure this one out. What the fuck is he doing? Whose side? He works in Internal Affairs :) :) :) [that's a lie/cover made for him by Shield]

13 // Firefighter w/ 911 series influence (both)

Self explanatory. Really

14 // Baldur's Gate

Dex Fighter/Rogue multiclass (yup) // he's a Harper, possibly gonna be a tadpoled companion; he just works in fantasy settings. You know, bad/sad childhood, ran away to the circus, criminal who got into a lot of trouble (circus fault) and then he finds something/somewhere to redeem himself and use his skills for good; The Harpers.... and then if BG3, probably tadpoled and act 2, the harpers you meet are like oh shit that's where you went clint

#[ ABOUT ] Verse bios tag #everything will get full bios later.#once again mental illness kicking my ass. i will try to write more another day.

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grapecaseschoices · 10 months

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Please tell me as much as possible about some of ur newest ocs. I must know more. 👀👀

Hehe hi anon. Did you see my mass reblogging?

I wanna tell you the world of them but 1. I'm tired 2. I'm getting over a cold. However, I shall do my best. Ty so much for the interest and the opportunity!

So both my newest tykes are for @disenchantedif [if you haven't tried it or even checked out the blog, I recommend! ESPECIALLY if you enjoy KOTSAM! A host of species to pick from, political and family drama, tragic... everything: backstories, present, future... a number of great ROs; but here MC can have history with q few. Though there is way more that MC is aware about, they ain't new to this.]

I have TWO semi [mostly] formed MCs for the game, and one who is just a FC and vibes [I also have a MC who's also just an FC and vibes for Dakota's other game @theunseelieif -- I THINK I may shoot Kendis at TU, I'm going to wait for a few more updates to be sure but I have already tested them in the first update and I Iiked how she clicked!]

So:

1, Tristan "Tis" TerreII; fc Logan Browning [subject t0 change] Species: Basilisk. Pronouns: Xe/Xem

Some tidbits I have highlighted in my gdocs of thoughts:

Gray eyes (like actually gray and not the human grey-blue), dark brown tightly curled hair that goes up to xe/xem shoulders.

Nightmares: Smoke

Lucien is xyr ex: Clearly friends to lovers is xyr fave trope

In love with xyr two best friends Viktor and Theo(dora)

Personalit thoughts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tisiphone

StyIe Insp0: https://grapecaseschoices.tumblr.com/post/717310924472696832/game-of-style-gowns-for-queen-aemma-arryn , [maybe -], https://grapecaseschoices.tumblr.com/post/717332666113982464/sosuperawesome-embroidered-underbust-corsets

My first edition of Tristan had the nickname Trix, fc of Laura Harrier, and was a lot more jittery, stiff and serious, and likeIy to hide behind Viktor. Tis isn't -- confrontational but xe is Tired and not looking to run. Xe's an Adult and xe isn't going to go looking for xyr past but xe is not going to not face it if it comes xe's way. Xe has a mixture of Mature and just Done approach [but there is a deep latent teasing that Theo can draw out ... at the cost of poor Viktor.] That said, xe is also not that social [though xe isnt against a fun time].

I think xe knows xe is absolutely so so so into Viktor. Viktor [and maybe Theo] is probably the only one who doesnt know qwerweq2e. Xe is just fond of Theo -- ofc! Bc Theo is a loyal bff, even if she is a pain in xe's. Nothing else there! [pfft]

Xe is also very loyal to Viktor's famiy.

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grapecaserps/disenchanted-tristan-tis-terrell/

2, Aleena Odeh [Nickname pending: But I Iike NeeIa]; fc Josie Totah, species: ????, pronouns: She/Her.

I haven't actually played with Neela yet. But I had the aesthetic and the possible ship [Penny!] and went from there. She is my cringefail child. My angry, cringefail womanTM. Bitter, bitter, bitter. Where Tis is Over It [highly very numb], Neela is seething to the point of corrosive. And probably violence. She's gonna make the besties squad WORK to love her, but in turn they will have her axe fist and not at all pithy comebacks. She is very protective of the little she has left.

I think she loves Viktor's family --- she just doesnt trust anymore. She has lost A LOT. She makes me cry and sad 12q3w4erew lol. Ima cry for her.

She is exhausted 25/6 and took the jitteryness of og Trix, except its less jumpy and more this caffiene and energy drink isnt that effective/is a chihuahua. It's the rage. But over ALL that is glitter and FUN!

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grapecaserps/disenchanted-aleena-odeh/

3, Nameless

I wanted a soff boy. I don't know, he is probably cis and bi. He will be in one of the Cam polyams bc I found that to be VERY funny.

The she is him. The mom is Talia. I mean he might surprise me, but I think he is the one most gung-ho about absorbing himseIf into Viktor's family; where as Neela is a cat fighting the bathtime and Tis still calls them Mr./Mrs. no matter how many times they contradict xem.

#ty sooo much for this anon #i guess i had more to say than i thought #and it STILL isnt all of it /sobs #grapecase posts #ask: disenchanted #ask: tristan terrell #oc: tristan terrell #oc: aleena odeh #ask: aleena odeh #disenchanted if #disenchanted mc #oc: richard joly

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diaphanouso · 7 months

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10 Mutuals I'd Like to Know Better

Thanks for the tag, @dulcidyne and @westernlarch !

Last song I listened to: Goldfrapp - Beast That Never Was

Favorite content to watch: sci-fi (some faves are For All Mankind, The Expanse, Event Horizon, Alien), horror (Haunting of Hill House, Yellowjackets, found footage genre), long-running sitcoms (Gilmore Girls, Frasier, Community), DELICIOUS MESSY DRAMAS (Succession, Suits), anything Taika Waititi's involved in

Favorite games: Mass Effect, Horizon Zero Dawn, BotW, TotK, LoZ Majora's Mask, Donkey Kong Country 2

Favorite color: green-leaning teal

Favorite animals: mustelids, giraffes/okapis

Favorite food: tacos, halo-halo, pickled things, a plate fixed with the following: fried cornbread w/ fresh sliced tomato and collard greens w/ vinegar and Tabasco sauce—perfect bite 🤌

Sweet, spicy, or savory: SPICY 🌶️

Current obsessions: BG3 got me too 😁 Otherwise it's this sci-fi/horror ME fic I'm working on that cropped up out of nowhere amidst a field of active wips

Last book I read: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (thanks so much for the rec, @dulcidyne!). Currently reading Cixin Liu's The Wandering Earth short story collection, and it's SO good

Last thing I googled: "jupiter brain youtube"

Relationship: long-term monogamy, cohabitating

Fun fact: I got to be a (very random???) guest on the Dear Prudence podcast when I chatted with Danny Lavery after a Dear Prudence Live show in DC. We chatted about conflict resolution and I didn't think he was serious when he invited me on the show but he was! I will not say which episode out here bc I'm painfully embarrassed by how I sound lol but if you're curious, message me and I can dig up the link

Tagging @dispatchwithlove @angry-jager @dwarrowdams @kalliesa @misseffect @otemporanerys @wingsy-keeper-of-songs @jtownnn

#tag game

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omniblades-and-stars · 1 month

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For the wip folder ask: what we lost in the muck sounds so interesting

Oh yay! One of my non-Mass Effect wips!

So I am playing a DnD game set in Eberron two years after a war that had lasted so long, my character, Aacid Malvys, has never known a time without it.

Aacid started as a joke. A dragonborn with an acid breath weapon named Aacid. But as I started thinking on her back story, she became quite serious and important to me.

Aacid became a soldier, and eventually proved herself capable of leading a small band of soldiers who specialized in guerilla style warfare. Near the end of the war, her pride causes her to make a bad call, and it costs her very nearly everything, except her life.

This will be the story of her time in the army from a young woman up to that event.

I'll put in what I've got so far (not very much) on this one under the cut!

"Shut your gob, Longhollow," Aacid huffed, voice raspy and gruff with exhaustion. She dropped her feet over the side of the top bunk, and inspected her toe claws for cracks and chips. It had been a long journey from Sharn. Fresh from basic training, they made their way to the frontlines. Young and full of pride and enthusiasm, one might have expected them to be eager to prove themselves on the field. But all they really felt was the dread of being sent into a war that had darkened the edges of their lives since they were born. "The oldest, she gets top bunk.”

It was much easier to joke about juvenile things like sleeping arrangements rather than address the creeping and pervasive sense of doom that gathered in the barracks like a fog. The humor helped fight away the feeling that there was a monster lurking in the shadows cast by the lamplight.

Peotyr batted her great clawed foot from in front of his eyes. “You stuff it, Malvys! You’re huge, if this bunk collapses I’ll be crushed in an instant!” He tossed himself back onto the straw mat that was allegedly a mattress and brushed away stray brown curls that had the audacity to go askance from the motion and block the charming view of the worn wooden slats above him. Initials and crude drawings both scratched into the surface, a time honored tradition of young soldiers.

Aacid bounced up and down causing the aging bunk to squeak threateningly. The crest of her horns nearly scraped the ceiling. “This sounds like a personal problem, Petes. You should try being taller.”

“Should try being smaller,” he groused in return.

“Tell you what, we fight for it, yes? First one knocked on the ground gets the top.”

“Bite me, Ass.”

Aacid shifted suddenly, pulling her legs up and behind her to swing around, her head hanging down to the bunk below. Eyes like molten gold challenged Peotyr almost as much as the sharp, fine points of her teeth did. “What part of you do you treasure most? I will be happy to rid you of it,” she snapped her jaws threateningly a couple of times.

Peotyr sat up in a snap and wrapped his hands around her curled horns. With an impish grin, he yanked, pulling Aacid over the edge of the bunk. She went crashing loudly to the floor with a shouted curse. She wrapped her hand around his ankle to drag him to the floor with her.

“Will you two please shut up!"

#daisy screaming into the void #not mass effect #this is my ask game tag now

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